诊断和治疗的进展极大地改善了非小细胞肺癌（NSCLC）患者的预后。然而，复发和转移仍然是NSCLC患者在完全缓解后面临的常见问题。因此，克服复发和转移的挑战对于改善NSCLC患者的预后尤为重要。研究表明，微小残余疾病（MRD）是肿瘤复发和转移的潜在来源，而循环肿瘤DNA（ctDNA）MRD在预测NSCLC的复发和转移以及评估治疗效果方面具有明显优势。因此，动态监测MRD对于NSCLC患者的管理策略非常重要。我们对PubMed中包含的与NSCLC MRD相关的文章进行了回顾，并描述了MRD研究的生物学意义和历史背景，使用ctDNA评估MRD的原因，以及ctDNA MRD在评估NSCLC复发和转移中的潜在价值和挑战，最终指导临床治疗策略和管理。通过更多的临床研究证据，为NSCLC的ctDNA MRD检测提供标准化范围，以减少研究差异，使其成为可靠指标，并可能被纳入临床分期中。

The advance of diagnostics and treatments has greatly improved the prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. However, relapse and metastasis are still common problems encountered by NSCLC patients who have achieved complete remission. Therefore, overcoming the challenge of relapse and metastasis is particularly important for improving the prognosis of NSCLC patients. Research has shown that minimal residual disease (MRD) was a potential source of tumor relapse and metastasis, and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) MRD has obvious advantages in predicting the relapse and metastasis of NSCLC and evaluating treatment effectiveness. Therefore, dynamic monitoring of MRD is of great significance for NSCLC patient management strategies.We have reviewed articles related to NSCLC MRD included in PubMed and describes the biological significance and historical context of MRD research, reasons for using ctDNA to evaluate MRD, and potential value and challenges of ctDNA MRD in assessing relapse and metastasis of NSCLC, ultimately guiding clinical therapeutic strategies and management.The standardized scope of ctDNA MRD detection for NSCLC requires more clinical research evidence to minimize study differences, making it possible to include in the clinical staging as a reliable indicator.